Typewriting machine



Sept. 7, 1943. R. D. DODGE TYPEWRITING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i Filed Deo. 28, 1940 Sept 7, 1943- R. D.DoDGE TYPEWRITING MACHINE Fild Dec. 28, 1940 2 sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY n VIIIIL Patented Sept. 7, 1943 'rrrEwmTiNG MACHINE Ronald D. Dodge, Rochester, N. Y., assignorto International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 28, 1940, Serial No. 372,105

14 Claims.

This invention relates to typewriting machines.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel feeding mechanism which is particularly well adapted for the feeding of small bills or statements, for example, the statements used by telephone companies to report to the subscriber toll charges for a given period, such as a month.

' An object is to provide a feeding mechanism which is capable of automatically realigning work sheets which may be initially inserted and fed' in a skewed relation.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed. out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the carriage.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified form of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a specimen of a statement. f

Fig. 5 shows a modified form of feed roller assembly. f

There are certain classes of business in which itis necessary to render bills or statements item izing charges, for example, .for telephone service. These statements or bills usually involve detail listing of small charges from to 50 cents and are in the nature of small forms, approximately 31/2" wide by about 5" long. 'Ihe statements are usually connected together at top and bottom by a line of perforations which enables the statements to be separated after they are 'typed and are usually manufactured in zig-zag folded packs of continuous forms. An example of such a statement is shown in Fig. 4.

The small bills or statements illustrated in Fig. 4 are extremely diillcult to feed due to the accomplishedby means of the tabulating mechanism and the skewing of the bill causes the items to be misplaced in the columns and results in untidy looking statements.

One fonn of feeding mechanism is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and includes the platen 28 which is of usual construction except for the fact that the rubber,V covering 28a is only slightly longer are secured the end pieces 60a having open slots (see Fig. 2) fitting annular grooves in a rod 62.

, Rod B2 thereby loosely supports the paper defact that they are so narrow and are not gripped evenly by the feed rollers, with the result that they tend to skew and require frequent manual readjustment on the platen. 'I'his requires a great deal of time which, in view of the small amount involved in the total of the items, causes the overhead cost of the billing operations to be high. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel feeding mechanism which enables these small bills to be fed more evenly and without constant manual read'justment to guide them straight and in the proper position on the platen. The properpositioningof the material written in the various columns of the bill is fiector 6i which may be removed at any time after iirst detaching the platen. Releasable latches 29a (Fig. 1) hold the platen in plates 29.

The rod 62 is mounted at its midpoint on an arm 63 which is secured to a shaft 6s journaled in the side plates of the carriage and operated by the usualpressure roller release lever with which the carriage is provided. A suitable spring, not

shown, urges the arm 63 in a clockwise direction,

Fig. 2, so as to tend to press the paper deflector upwardly to engage the pressure rollers with the platen. 'I'he paper dei'lector 5l is steadied at its ends by check links B5 which are loosely mounted on the shaft Gli and loosely engage the ends of rod 82. These arms-65 hold the paper deiiector parallel with the platen and prevent the ends of the paper deflector from following the platen in its rotation. The links also keep the paper deiiector parallel with the platen when the pressure rollers are released'.

Th end pieces 60a may be secured to the curved plate 6i by any suitable means such as welding or soldering and are provided with four pivot screws 66 on which are rotatably mounted and supported the two pressure roller shafts 61,' 68 to which the pressure rollers are secured. The rear pressure roller shaft Sl is provided at each end with 'a pair of rollers 69, 'ill of which the roller 69 is made of metal, preferably steel, while the roller 'lil is made of a resilient material such as dense soft rubber, and is of slightly larger diameter than the roller 69. The shaft El is also provided with a central roller- 1I which is made of very soft rubber such as sponge rubber, and is considerably smaller in diameter than either of the two pairs of rollers 69, 10. 'Ihe latter ride on the metallic tube 28h which forms the core of the platen. The central roller 1| bears very lightly on the rubber covering 23a so as to very lightly grip the bill at substantially its middle. The front pressure roller shaft 68 is provided with two metallic rollers 12 at its ends which bear on the shell 28h and at its center is provided with a smaller diameter rubber roller 13 which bears firmly on the rubber sleeve 28a. All the rollers 63 to 13 are secured to the shafts carrying them.

'Ihe steel rollers 69, 12 keep the paper deflector evenly spaced from the platen and act as spacing members to prevent the rollers 1|, 13 from pressing too heavily upon the paper. The rollers 69 to 13 are so proportioned that the front roller 13 is the primary feeding means and the roller 1| is mainly used in introducing bills to bring the leading edge of the bill to the roller 13. Because the roller 1I is very soft and the spring which operates the arm 63 is quite strong, the roller 1| would tend to flatten and become deformed in a short time, if it were not for the provision of the spacing rollers 89. The rubber rollers 10, by cooperation with the platen core 2817, cause the roller 1l to be rotated whenever the platen is turned. The roller 12, by cooperation with the platen core 28h, drives the roller 13. However, the primary purpose of the roller 12 is to prevent flattening of the roller 13 against the strong pressure of the spring operating the arm 63 and are not intended to act as drivers for rollers 13. -As a matter of fact, due to the dissimilar driving ratios between the platen core 28b and the roller 12, and between the sleeve 28a and roller 13, and the smoothness of rollers 12 and core 282, there may be some slippage of rollers 12 on the shell 28h.

The carriage includes cross-rods 14, 15 on which is mounted a bail-like frame 16 including side arms having holes through which pass the rods 14, 15 and a connecting flat table which is substantially tangent to the surface of the platen covering 28a. This .frame 16 is secured on the rods 14, by means of set screws 11 in bushings attached to the side arms of frame 16. Adjustably mounted on the front face of frame 16 are two side guides 18 provided with pins 18a which are riveted to the side guides and pass through aligned slots 16a in the frame 16, whereby the side guides 18 may be adjusted longitudinally of the platen a limited extent and secured in place by means of flat-head screws 19 which. pass through holes in the side guides 16 and through aligned slots 1Gb in the frame 16. The screws 19 are threaded into round nuts 80 formed with lugs which project into the slots 16b and prevent the nuts 8U from turning when the screws 19 are turned.

The bills shown in Fig. 4 are usually in the form of a continuous strip supplied in zig-zag folded packs which may be placed in a suitable container behind the machine. 'I'he leading edge of the first bill is introduced into the chute formed by the side guides 18 and pressed down far enough to be lightly gripped between the roller 1l and platen 28. When the platen is turned roller 1I grips the bill at its middle, and

pushes the leading edge thereof around the,

platen until the bill is gripped by the roller 13. This roller also grips the bill at the middle and the positive feeding of the bill is effected thereby.

It has been found that by drawing the bill around the platen by a single narrow roller which contacts the center of the bill, the bills will be fed evenly without skewing and it is not necessary that the operator readjust the bills from time to time. Ordinarily the work sheet; is fed not only by a plurality of small diameter front pressure rollers like the roller 13, but also by large diameter rear pressure rollers with the result that oncea sheet is started 'in the wrong direction, it will continue in that direction because it is held against any possibility of twisting in the direction necessaryto straighten the bill. With the form of feed mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the bill is positively fed at a point ne'ar its middle and close to the printing point, and the tendency is to continuously draw the bill straight ahead in a direction at right angles to the platen. This readjustment will not be effective with a single bill but requires the feeding of several bills before they are ilnally forced to feed at right angles to the axis of the platen.

Ordinarily the feeding of a work sheet in a typewriting machine is effected by a plurality of separate pressure rollers'arranged in two rows and the rollers are so close together and so wide that a narrow bill like the one shown in Fig. 4 would, in all probability, be fed by at least five rollers. As a result, the sheet will be very firmly gripped and it cannot be twisted sidewise except by releasing the pressure rollers. Thus, if a sheet starts to feed in a skewed condition, it will remain in skewed condition and with continuous rotation of the platen will creepv longitudinally of a platen until ejected. If the sheet is long enough, the longitudinal movement may be so great as to cause the edges of the sheet to crum- 'ple or become torn against the side guides or the end plates of the carriage. The sheet cannot be straightened by twisting it in the proper direction while the pressure rollers are engaged. It has been found that the usual paper deflector does not work very satisfactorily in feeding Very narrow forms like the statement shown in Fig. 4 because it is difficult to initially start the bills square with the platen owing to the shortness of the leading edge which would be gripped by only one or two of the rear pressure rollers, whereas wide sheets will be gripped by all or nearly all of the rear pressure rollers and the contact; points of such rollers with the platen will be so closely in alignment and parallel with the axis of the platen that in most cases the sheet will start square with the platen. The result is, that after a few forms have been fed, there is a tendency for the forms to slowly creep longitudinally of the platen. After a few forms have been fed they begin crumpling against theside guides 18 and must be readjusted to avoid damage.

In the form of the invention disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, the roller 1| grips the forms so lightly that it is possible to shifrt .the forms in a direction to straighten them, the roller 13 acting in a certain measure as a pivot point. For example, let it be assumed that the forms have been inserted in such a way in the chuite formed by guides 18 that the trailing portions form an angle less than with the right hand half of the platen. Were it not for the right hand side guide 18, the forms wouldtend to creep to the right (Fig. 1) with progressive rotation of .the platen and ultimately the forms would travel completely off of the rubber covering 28a. Owing to rthe presence of the right hand side guide, however, a pressure is constantly exerted o n the right hand edges of the forms while the roller 13 is constantly tending to pull the forms forwardly at right angles to the platen. As a result, a constant turning movement is applied to the formsallowing them to gradually swing in a counterclockwise direction lightly upon the forms. this action would not be possible bec-ause the frictional force between the rollers ll, 'I3 and thev platen would be 'considerably greater than the straightening force or reaction exerted by the right hand side guide 1.8. with the result that the edges of the forms would be unable to travel to the right (Fig. 1) and would become crumpled against the right hand side guide 18.

The form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has the disadvantage that the machine cannot be used for other purposes, such as the writing of larger forms and letters. It is desirable that equipment used in omces be as flexible as possible, in order that it may be used as far as possible for all purposes, particularly where the demands for special equipment are not sufficient to require continuous use of such equipment.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a modified form of the feed mechanism which not only permits the machine to be used for regular office work, but also permits two diierent bills or forms to be written at once, or alternately, as desired. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3, the machine is standard in every respect except in the size and arrangement of the rollers on the paper deilector` and the paper table which is slightly modified in construction. In this case the platenis of standard construction with a rubber covering extendlng the full length of the core to accommodate any size sheet within the capacity of the carriage.

The reference numeral 8d designates the usual o paper table on which two sets of side guides 18 are mounted in the same fashion as the guides 18 in Fig. 1 to iorm two form guiding chutes. The paper deilector 6| also extends the full length of the platen and is constructed similarly to the one shown in Fig. 1. It differs mainly in the number and arrangement of the pressure rollers and the steel rollers shown in Fig. l are omitted. The pressure roller shafts are designated 81a, 68a (Fig. 3) of which the rear pressure roller is provided with three rubber rollers 86 of dense soft rubber, and two sponge rubber rollers 8l.

The front pressure rollers shaft 68a is provide with two feed rollers 83 located in iront of rollers 8l and of smaller diameter than the rollers 88, 8l. The rollers 88 are similar to the rollers 'i3 in Fig. 6. At the ends ofthe pressure roller shaft 68a are the shorter rollers 88 which are located in iront of the other of the rollers 86 and are of slightly smaller diameter than rollers 88. 'I'he rollers 86 and 89 always bear directly upon the surface of the platen outside of the side guides 18. Only rollers 8T and 83 cooperate with continuous forms drawn through the chutes formed by the guides '18. The rollers 8l grip the forms very lightly while the rollers 38 grip i'airly firmly. The rollers 86, in this case, serve as means of preventing the rollers 8l' from gripping the work sheets firmly. The rollers 81, as in the case of roller 'l l, effect feeding of the forms by light surface contact.

The forms of the invention shown in Figs. l'and 3 in which the rollers il and 8l are made of a material like spongs rubber have been found to work very satisfactorily. However, it hasv been found by experience that sponge rubber is somewhat dimcult to work and dicult to cement on the pressure roller shafts. In order to lavoid the production difculties experienced with sponge rubber rollers, a pressure roller shaft assembly toy .rollers 81a.

has been devised in which all o! the rollers are ol' nrm soit rubber of the quality usually used in 'same length as the shaft 61 in Fig. 1. 'I'he rollers 86a are formed with shoulders 86h which are de-` signed to support but not grip the edges oi.' the forms and the raised portions of the rollers 86a are located in the same relative positions as rollers 86 in Fig. 3 with respect to the edges of the forms whereby the pressure roller shaft assembly shown in Fig. 5 will be rotated by the platen but' the forms will not be positively gripped by the rollers 86a. l

Each of the rollers 81a is provided` with several fins 87h but more than half of each roller is of 'the same diameter. as the shoulders 86h of rollers 86a. The ns 87h are so thin as to be incapable of feeding the forms positively but iiex very readily when the forms pass between them, whereby the forms are very lightly gripped and may be easily shifted longitudinally of the platen without the ns exerting any appreciable binding force upon the forms. Thus, thel ns grip a sheet introduced into the form by the side guides i8 to the extent barely necessary to bring the leading edge of the rst form "to the roller 'i3 but the forms, nevertheless, can pivot slightly about the roller 13 and the ns 87h will merely bend or flex slightly. The portions of rollers 81a adjacent the iins S'Ib'and the shoulders 86h on the rollers 86a merely loosely support the forms during their introduction and prevent the leading edges of the forms from catching upon the edges of the openings which are provided in the paper deilectorl for the rollers. In Fig. l, the paper defiector is shown as provided with three openings for the rollers 68, lil, ll.

The form Iof the pressure roller assembly shown in Fig. 5 has the advantage that it can be used inthe short paper deector which is used in wide carriage machines. mon to provide a plurality of short paper deflectors approximately seven inches long rather than one long deector as it has been found that when a single long paper deilector of 16" or more in length is used the pressure rollers do not grip the sheets evenly. Thus with a construction as shown in Fig. 5 a minimum number of additional parts must be manufactured to apply the present invention to a standard machine, such as one with a 12,' carriage. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. l and 3, the paper deector must be made special for machines for writing the narrow bills shown in Fig. 4.

The short paper defiectorused in wide carriage machines usually has at the rear of the paper deector four rollers of the same over-all length and spacing as the roller shown in Fig. 5 and a Ashaft similar to 61h with three slightly longer rollers of which the outer two are directly .in front of the rollers 86a while the middle roller is directly in line with the space between the shown in Fig. 5 in a standard short paper deector, a platen with a full length rubber covering is used instead of a platen like the one shown in Fig. 1 with the covering extending over only approximately one-third of the core. The outer twoof the front three pressure rollers utilized in In such machines it is comy When utilizing the roller assembly' the short paper deflector may be reduced in length, like the rollers 89 in Fig. 3, to clear the edges of the forms and the middle roller may be slightly larger in diameter like the roller 88. With this arrangement, a minimum number of special parts must be made to apply the invention to any standard machine.

Furthermore, when it is desired to use a machine for general correspondence as well as for the writing of small bills like those shown in Fig. 4, a wide carriage machine can be used which is equipped with a standard paper deflector on one side of the machine and a special paper deflector having the rollers arranged as just described with a single set of the side guides 18. Since the platen side guides and the paper deector are both easily removed, it is possible by providing each machine with two short deectors of standard form and one special deflector to convert, at a moments notice, a machine from special bill writing jobs to regular use.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to three illustrative embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated and in their operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: l

1. In combination with the platen of a typewrting machine, a forms guiding chute; a. paper deector assembly located in front of said chute for receiving forms guided by said chute including a series of rear pressure rollers and a series of front pressure rollers, at least one of said series of rear pressure rollers lightly gripping a lform guided to the platen by said chute and others of said rollers engaging the platen adjacent the edges of the form to act as spacers to regulate the pressure of the forms gripping roller and also acting as a means of rotating said roller, the front series including a central roller which firmly grips theforms at the center to feed the forms positively and the remainder of said front series engaging the platen to rotate the central roller; and means to urge the paper deilector assembly against the platen.

2. In combination with the platen of a typewriting machine, a rear feed roller shaft including a central feed roller and a plurality of spacing rollers which prevent the central feed roller from firmly gripping a sheet, a front feed roller shaft having a central feed roller located in alignment circumferentially of the platen with the central feed roller on the rear shaft and a pair of driving rollers, said spacing and driving rollers being located outside the edges of a sheet fed by the central rollers, and means to urge said shafts toward the platen.

3. In combination with the carriage of a typewriting machine, a series of rear pressure rollers including at least one centrally disposed roller gripping a work sheet at or near its center and a plurality of spacing rollers contacting the platen but not the work sheet adjacent the edges of'the sheet, said central roller being relatively more yielding than the spacing rollers, the latter preventing flattening of the central roller more than the thickness of the sheet, said spacing rollers driving the central roller; a series of front pressure rollers including a central feed roller engaging the middle of the sheet and a pair of driving rollers coacting with the platen to drive the central front feed roller and control its pressure on the sheet; and means to yieldingly hold all of said rollers against the'platen.

4. In combination with the platen of a typewriting machine; a paper deflector assembly including a` front feed roller shaft and a rear feed roller shaft, a front feed roller on said front shaft engaging a work sheet at its center and operative, when the platen is rotated, to positively pull the work sheet around the platen, a rear feed roller on the rear roller shaft, said rear roller being relatively more yielding than the'front roller, raid paper deflector assembly also including means to limit the rear rollertoa light contact with the work sheet at about its center and actuated by the platen outside the work sheet Ifor rotating the rear roller, and means to urge the paper deflector assembly into engagement with the platen.

5. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a paper guide chute for directing a work sheet to the platen at right angles thereto, a soft rubber feed roller located at the delivery side of the platen close to the printing line and at the center line of the feed path of the work sheet for drawing the work sheet through said chute and around said platen, a softer and more yielding rubber roller located at the introductory side of the platen; means to prevent said softer roller from flattening against the platen, said means permitting the softer roller to engage the work sheet so lightly as to allow shifting of the work sheet laterally of the line of feed, and means to urge said rollers into contact with the platen.

6. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a paper guide chute for directing a work sheet to the platen at right angles thereto, a soft rubber feed roller located at the delivery side of the platen close to the printing line and at the center line of the feed path of the work sheet for drawing the Work sheet through said chute and around said platen, a softer yielding roller made of sponge rubber and located at the introductory side of the platen; means to prevent said softer roller from flattening against the platen, said means permitting the softer roller to engage the work sheet so lightly as to allow shifting of the Work sheet laterally of the line of feed, and means to urge said rollers into contact with the platen.

7. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a paper guide chute for directing a work sheet to the platen at right angles thereto, a feed roller located at the delivery side of the platen close to the printing line and at the center line of the feed path of the work sheet for drawing the work sheet through said chute and around said platen, a second roller formed with a plurality of thin exible ns capable of flexing with displacement of the work sheet laterally of its line of feed and located at the introductory rside of the platen;

means to prevent said second roller fromfiattening against the platen, said means permitting the second roller to engage the work sheet so lightly as to allow shifting of the work sheet laterally of the line of feed, and means to urge said rollers into contact with the platen.

8. In combination with the platen of a typewriting machine, a forms guiding chute, a paper deflector assembly located in front of said chute `for receiving forms guided by the chute including A a series of rear pressure rollers and a series of front pressure rollers, at least `one of said series of rear pressure rollers lightly gripping a form and being made of sponge rubber and others of 2,328,624 said rear rollers engaging the platen adjacent the edges of the form to act as spacers to regulate the pressure of the sponge rubberroller and also acting as a means of rotating said roller, the front series including a central roller which firmly grips the forms at the center to feed the forms posi-A tively, the remainder of said front series engaging the platen to rotate the central roller, and means to urge the paper defiector assembly against the platen.

9. In combination with the platen of a typewriting machine, a forms guiding chute, a paper defiector assembly for receiving forms guided by said chute including a series of rear pressure rollers and a series of -front pressure rollers, at least 'one of said series of rear pressure rollers being formed with a plurality of thin flexible fins lightly gripping a form and capable of exing with displacement of the work sheet laterally of its line of feed, others of said rollers engaging the platen adjacent the edges of the form to act as spacers to regulate the pressure of the forms gripping roller and also acting as a means of rotating said roller, the front series including a central roller which firmly grips the forms at the center to feed forms positively and the remainder of said front series engaging the platen to rotate the central roller, and means to urge the paper deector assembly against the platen.

10. In combination with the platen of a type- Writing machine, means nto guide forms to the platen including elements engaging the edges of the forms, a front pressure roller for positively feeding the forms by firm engagement with the platen at the center of the form, and a rear pressure roller formed with fins capable of flexing when lthe forms are displaced longitudinally of the platen and which lightly grips the sheet merely suiiiciently tointroduce a form to the front pressure roller to enable the forms to be straightened by a quasi-pivotal movement on the platen with one or the other of said elements as a pivot center. f

`11. In combination with the platen of a typewriting machinel a forms guiding chute, a paper deflector assembly located in front of said chute for receiving forms guided by said chute including a series of rear pressure rollers and a series of front pressure rollers, at least one of said series of rear pressure rollers lightly gripping a form and yieldable longitudinally of the platen when the work sheet is displaced in such direction, others of said rear rollers engaging the platen adjacent the edges of the form to act as spacer to regulate the pressure of the forms gripping roller and also acting as a means of rotating said roller, the front series including a central roller which firmly grips the forms at the center to feed the forms positively and the remainder of said front series engaging the platen to rotate the central roller; and means to urge the paper deflector assembly against the platen.

12. In a typewriting machine, a platen, a paper guide chute for directing a Work sheet to the platen at right angles thereto, a soft rubber feed roller located at the delivery side of the platen close to the printing line and at the center line of the feed path of the Work sheet for drawing the work sheet through said chute and around said platen, a softer rubber roller yieldable longitudinally of the platen when the work sheet is displaced in such direction and located at the introductory side of the platen; means to prevent said softer roller from flattening against the platen,v said means permitting the softer roller to engage the work sheet so lightly as to allow shifting of the work sheet laterally of the line of roller, means to limit the rear roller to a light contact with the Work sheet at about its center and acuated by the platen ouside the Work sheet for rotating the rear roller, and

means to urge the paper defiector assembly into engagement with the platen.

13. In combination with'the platen of a type- Writing machine, a rear feed roller shaft including a central feed roller yieldable longitudinally of the platen when the Work sheet is displaced in such direction and a plurality of spacing rollers whichprevent the central feed roller from firmly gripping a sheet, a front feed roller shaft having a central feed roller located in alignment circumferentially ofthe platen With the central feed roller on the rearvshaft and a pairof driving rollers, said spacing and driving rollers being located outside the edges of a sheet fed by the central rollers, and means to urge said shafts toward the platen.

14. In combination with the platen lof a type- Writing machine, a rear feed roller shaft including a central feed roller made of sponge rubber and a plurality of spacing rollers made of firm soft rubber which prevent the central feed roller from firmly gripping a sheet, a front feed roller shaft having a central feed roller located in alignment circumferentially of the platen with the central feed roller on the rear shaft and a pair of driving rollers, said spacing and driving rollers being located outside the edges of a sheet fed by the central rollers, and means to urge said shafts toward the platen.

RONALD D. DODGE. 

